My Part D USA

As you all know, I have been working on the COOKING UP A CURE recipe book for some time now.  I have been gathering all your recipes you have been sending to me, and I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to do that.  The profits of this book are going to the American Diabetes Association, as my husband was a juvenile diabetic and passed away from the disease in 1993 at the age of 35.

If you haven’t sent in a recipe, please do so.  They don’t have to be diabetic recipes, although there will be a section for those.  I’m just asking for family favorites and anything you’d like to share.

Since we are coming into the Holiday Season I found an article about the best herbs and spices for our health!

Ginger – Ginger is a great digestive aid.  Use it in holiday cookies, make a ginger tea or keep some real giner ale on hand for guest who overindulge.  You can also add it to sweet potatos and pinapple desserts.  It is not hard to find anymore at the grocery, so don’t leave it out this year.

Garlic – Garlic provides antimicrobial properties beneficial for colds and nasal congestion.  It also helps lower cholesteral and blood pressure and supports the immune system.  I like garlic in just about everything.  You can buy it already chopped up and fresh in the produce department.  I even add fresh garlic in my salads, hamburgers, steamed veggies etc….

Cinnamon - This antixidant and antiviral has been used to treat digestive upsets and also helps regulate blood suar, lowers high cholesterol levels and improve insulin sensitivity.  You don’t have to use all the added sugar that goes along with it.  Have any of you tried the sweetner Stevia?  It is not a chemical and is much better for you than even Splenda.  Use Cinnamon in sweet potatoes, pies, cookies, baked apples, apple cider or add it to your green tea.  Just 1 teaspoon a day added to your whole wheat toast in the morning can make a difference.

Sage - A member of the mint family, this herb has antioxident properties.  Sage also possesses hypoglycemic qualities that help those with diabetes.  Use in stuffings, cheeses, breads, soups and sauces.

Oregano - With 20 times the antioxidant activity of other herbs (who would have guessed?) oregano fights against the flu.  It is not only for Italian foods, but use it in stuffings, seafoods, potatoes and veggie dishes.  It is also good to use in olive oil on salads and breads.

My family is getting together this weekend, before Thanksgiving, so I’m searching online for healthy recipe ideas.  Thanks for all your kindness in helping me and others with your ideas!

Send them to me at : kblake@MyPartDusa.org

How many of you take a fish oil supplement?

I have a personal story I’d like to share with you.

Like so many people I had told myself I was “too busy” to take care of myself.  By the time I was 48 I was already on blood pressure meds and had stopped doing any kind of real exercise.  When my 50th birthday rolled around this year I was almost crippled from a knee injury and was not getting any better.  When I went to my doctor for blood work I found out my cholesterol was very high.  I decided I’d better do something to help myself.

Since I work with people already on Medicare and see the long lists of drugs people are taking, I could see the writing on the wall…blood pressure meds, cholesterol lowering drugs and on and on.  I went to a personal trainer to get help for my knee after surgery and he immediately told me to begin taking fish oil and actually gave me my first bottle.  Since I have been learning to eat better and doing regular workouts and taking the fish oil, and a couple of other supplements, I have been able to STOP

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taking the blood pressure meds and my cholesterol levels have significantly lowered, ALL WITHOUT TAKING MORE MEDICATIONS.

I have been reading online about supplements and have read so much about how fish oil can help people get off medications and wanted to share this with all of you.  Drugs are so expensive and the more we can do to avoid taking them the better!

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You must not stop taking anything until you speak with your doctor, голова болит секс but even folks that take anti-inflammatory drugs such as Vioxx and Celebrex have been able to stop taking those as well.

It does take several months to see significant improvement, but it can be done.  People don’t usually change their habits until the effects of NOT changing are worse than staying on the same path.  That is what happened to me.  I could see what was happening to my body and it was not a “good thing”, as Martha Stewart would say.

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Change is hard.  The best thing I did was find a way to make myself “accountable”.  You can begin by writing down everything you put in your mouth and tell someone what you are trying to do.  Set goals to weigh only 1 time each month and begin the supplements.  If you go see your doctor on a regular basis, tell him/her your goals.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if in 6 months you could cut in half the number of drugs you needed to take?  This is my best DRUG SAVINGS TIP!

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IF YOU HAVE ANY PERSONAL STORIES OF USING SUPPLEMENTS AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THEM WITH ME, PLEASE WRITE TO ME!  I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE SO WE CAN ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER!

A couple of BLOGS ago, scroll down, I wrote a bit about natural remedies and if Medicare would cover these expenses.  I also wanted to go over some nutritional issues that many people are finding helpful in wellness education.

The FIRST thing to remember as I went over before is that your doctor needs to know every supplement you take as some of them interfere with your medications and surgeries.

If you have never gone to www.Realage.com, please take the time to visit this website.  There is a section on “Staying Young” and gives you a Warranty Lesson on your health.  I have taken the liberty of sharing some of this great information with you.

FOODS TO FIGHT AGING

1.  FOLIC ACID – 800 micrograms a day will help your hearing for high-frequency sounds.

2. TURMERIC – an Indian spice for boosting memory and brain function.  You can check out mustards that contain this spice and also add it to soups, chicken and shrimp dishes.

3. GREEN TEA – flushes out toxins and boosts immunity.  It is advised to drink a very strong cup of green tea with the juice of 1/2 lemon before you eat anything in the morning.  This cleanses your liver and also helps with metabolism.

4. MAGNESIUM – helps lower blood pressure and reduce heart arrhythmia.  You can get magnesium from lima beans, avocado, whole grains, beets and raisins.  You should get 400 mgs a day.  1 cup of cooked lima beans has 100 mgs.

5. CHIA SEEDS – isn’t that funny?  You can get these seeds at your health food store.  They have the most antioxidant potency of any food.  It is a nutty tasting grain with Omega 3 fatty acids.  Take 2 daily doses of 2 tablespoons each.  You can sprinkle on your cereal, yogurt, salads or in muffin mixes or smoothies.

If you visit this website there are all kinds of info with recipes using foods that improve your health.  Good reading!

Since I get so many questions by email everyday I thought I would share some of them with you, just in case!

QUESTION: Does Medicare pay for any kind of herbal or natural treatments instead of just prescription medication?

ANSWER: No, Medicare does not consider herbs true medications and will not cover these expenses.  I understand why you would want to know this because I have been in my local health food store and know how much the supplements many doctors recommend cost, such as Omega 3 fish oil, and antioxidant herbal additions to your treatment.

My advise to you if you want to use herbal supplements in addition to or instead of standard prescription medications is to find a Doctor in your area who deals with both ways of treatment.  Many herbs can interfere with your prescriptions, so you need to disclose everything you take to EVERY doctor you see.

There are recent studies that the herb Astragalus has been used in combination with other drugs to treat cancer and can boost the power of some types of chemotherapy.  Ginseng is another herb that can boost energy in cancer patients, and Glutamine can help with your digestive tract and the damage chemo does to your body.  Chronic inflammation is known to fuel the growth of tumors and Omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil and flaxseed are potent anit-inflammatories that slow tumor growth.

Omega 3’s also help your heart and joints, so even though taking fish oil does not sounds very appetizing, they have caplets or flavored oil that goes down easily.

No matter what kind of treatment you choose, make sure that everything you take works well together and check with your doctor, or find one that has an open mind about both natural remedies and prescription drugs!

QUESTION: Ms. Blake, last year my husband, who was on SS disability turned 65.  During the enrollment period for a supplelment where he could NOT be turned down because of medical reasons, a Medicare Advantage rep talked us into going with (a certain MAPD).  It was all so confusing to us and what he said SOUNDED GOOD, but now that my husband is past that enrollment period, we know the truth and he would not be able to pass a medical exam for a Medigap/Medicare Supplement.  Is there any hope for us? Also, he is in the “dreaded donut hole”.

ANSWER: I am happy to tell you that because you were misled and you are within the 12 months of joining an MAPD, you can change back to a Medicare Supplement with no health questions and a stand alone Part D plan. You need to call Medicare directly and tell them about your situation and that you were confused about the benefits provided by the MAPD and the way the salesperson explained it to you was not clear.  They can enroll you back into the ORIGINAL MEDICARE SYSTEM. When that is done you can call us here at My Part D USA or someone else you can trust locally that will help you and KNOW HOW to deal with this process.  Also, if your income is low enough you can go to your local SS office and tell them you want to apply for MEDICARE PART D LIMITED INCOME SUBSIDY.  SS will send you a letter telling you if you qualified or not.  If you did, you MUST send a copy of that letter to your Part D plan provider, so they will know not to bill you for a premium, that you will have NO DONUT HOLE and all your drugs will be between 4 to 8 dollars for a 30 day supply.  If you cannot qualify for this, please contact the actual manufacturer of your husbands most expensive drugs, many times their income levels are higher to qualify for help and you can get discounts that way.  You can also shop around, not using your drug plan during the donut hole! There are also FREE DISCOUNT CARDS, you can download, as I have talked about on the blog before, just look in the category section.  Remember to read my other blogs about ways to MAXIMZE your drug plan beginning next January to NEVER buy your generics using your drug plan so you can save your c0-pays for the more expensive brand name drugs.  This will also keep you OUT of the donut hole longer each year.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  If you laugh a lot, when you get older your wrinkles will be in the right places!